NEBRASKA FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE ACT

NEBRASKA FAIR EMPLOYMENT
               PRACTICE ACT
LAW RELATING TO LABOR

Source: Laws 1965, LB656; LB 357, 1967; LB 718, 1969; LB 265 & LB 266, 1973; LB 40 & LB 161, 1977; LB 4,
LB 67 & LB 322, 1979; LB 204 & LB 545, 1981; LB 447 & LB 626, 1983; LB 14A, 1984; LB 324, 1985; LB 1108,
1986; LB352, 1988; LB 175 & LB 176, 1989; LB825, 1991; LB 121, LB 124 & LB 360, 1993; LB 701, 2003; LB
1083, 2004; LB 782, 2012; LB 627, 2015; LB 193& LB 84, 2018; LB 217, 2019; LB 381 & LB 39, 2020; LB 451,
2021

48-1101. Purpose.

    It is the policy of this state to foster the employment of all employable persons in the state on
the basis of merit regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, disability, or national origin and to
safeguard their right to obtain and hold employment without discrimination because of their race,
color, religion, sex, disability, or national origin. Denying equal opportunity for employment
because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, or national origin is contrary to the principles of
freedom and is a burden on the objectives of the public policy of this state. The policy of this state
does not require any person to employ an applicant for employment because of his or her race,
color, religion, sex, disability, or national origin, and the policy of this state does not require any
employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee to grant
preferential treatment to any individual or to any group because of race, color, religion, sex,
disability, or national origin.

    It is the public policy of this state that all people in Nebraska, both with and without disabilities,
shall have the right and opportunity to enjoy the benefits of living, working, and recreating within
this state. It is the intent of the Legislature that state and local governments, Nebraska businesses,
Nebraska labor organizations, and Nebraskans with disabilities understand their rights and
responsibilities under the law regarding employment discrimination and the prevention of
discrimination on the basis of disability

48-1102. Terms, defined.

   For purposes of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, unless the context otherwise
requires:

   (1) Person shall include one or more individuals, labor unions, partnerships, limited liability
companies, associations, corporations, legal representatives, mutual companies, joint-stock
companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers;

    (2) Employer shall mean a person engaged in an industry who has fifteen or more employees
for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar
year, any agent of such a person, and any party whose business is financed in whole or in part
under the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority Act regardless of the number of employees and
shall include the State of Nebraska, governmental agencies, and political subdivisions, but such
term shall not include (a) the United States, a corporation wholly owned by the government of the
United States, or an Indian tribe or (b) a bona fide private membership club, other than a labor
organization, which is exempt from taxation under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code;

(3) Labor organization shall mean any organization which exists wholly or in part for one or
more of the following purposes: Collective bargaining; dealing with employers concerning
grievances, terms, or conditions of employment; or mutual aid or protection in relation to
employment;

    (4) Employment agency shall mean any person regularly undertaking with or without
compensation to procure employees for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to
work for an employer and shall include an agent of such a person but shall not include an agency
of the United States, except that such term shall include the United States Employment Service
and the system of state and local employment services receiving federal assistance;

    (5) Covered entity shall mean an employer, an employment agency, a labor organization, or a
joint labor-management committee;

    (6) Privileges of employment shall mean terms and conditions of any employer-employee
relationship, opportunities for advancement of employees, and plant conveniences;

   (7) Employee shall mean an individual employed by an employer;

   (8) Commission shall mean the Equal Opportunity Commission;

    (9) Disability shall mean (a) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or
more of the major life activities of such individual, (b) a record of such an impairment, or (c) being
regarded as having such an impairment. Disability shall not include homosexuality, bisexuality,
transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, gender-identity disorders not
resulting in physical impairments, other sexual behavior disorders, problem gambling,
kleptomania, pyromania, or psychoactive substance use disorders resulting from current illegal use
of drugs;

   (10)(a) Qualified individual with a disability shall mean an individual with a disability who,
with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment
position that such individual holds or desires. Consideration shall be given to the employer's
judgment as to what functions of a job are essential, and if an employer has prepared a written
description before advertising or interviewing applicants for the job, this description shall be
considered evidence of the essential functions of the job;

    (b) Qualified individual with a disability shall not include any employee or applicant who is
currently engaged in the illegal use of drugs when the covered entity acts on the basis of such use;
and

    (c) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to exclude as a qualified individual with a
disability an individual who:

    (i) Has successfully completed a supervised drug rehabilitation program or otherwise been
rehabilitated successfully and is no longer engaging in the illegal use of drugs;

    (ii) Is participating in a supervised rehabilitation program and is no longer engaging in such
use; or

   (iii) Is erroneously regarded as engaging in such use but is not engaging in such use;

(11) Reasonable accommodation, with respect to disability, shall include making existing
facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, job
restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition
or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modification of examinations,
training manuals, or policies, the provision of qualified readers or interpreters, and other similar
accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Reasonable accommodation, with respect to
pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, shall include acquisition of equipment for
sitting, more frequent or longer breaks, periodic rest, assistance with manual labor, job
restructuring, light-duty assignments, modified work schedules, temporary transfers to less
strenuous or hazardous work, time off to recover from childbirth, or break time and appropriate
facilities for breast-feeding or expressing breast milk. Reasonable accommodation shall not
include accommodations which the covered entity can demonstrate require significant difficulty
or expense thereby posing an undue hardship upon the covered entity. Factors to be considered in
determining whether an accommodation would pose an undue hardship shall include:

   (a) The nature and the cost of the accommodation needed under the Nebraska Fair Employment
Practice Act;

    (b) The overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in the provision of the
reasonable accommodation, the number of persons employed at such facility, the effect on
expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise of such accommodation upon the operation of the
facility;

     (c) The overall financial resources of the covered entity, the overall size of the business of a
covered entity with respect to the number of its employees, and the number, type, and location of
its facilities; and

    (d) The type of operation or operations of the covered entity, including the composition,
structure, and functions of the work force of such entity, and the geographic separateness and
administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities in question to the covered entity;

   (12) Marital status shall mean the status of a person whether married or single;

    (13) Because of sex or on the basis of sex shall include, but not be limited to, because of or on
the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions;

    (14) Harass because of sex shall include making unwelcome sexual advances, requesting
sexual favors, and engaging in other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature if (a) submission
to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's
employment, (b) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis
for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (c) such conduct has the purpose or effect
of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive working environment;

    (15) Unlawful under federal law or the laws of this state shall mean acting contrary to or in
defiance of the law or disobeying or disregarding the law;

   (16) Drug shall mean a controlled substance as defined in section 28-401;

    (17) Illegal use of drugs shall mean the use of drugs, the possession or distribution of which is
unlawful under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, but shall not include the use of a drug

taken under supervision by a licensed health care professional or any other use authorized by the
Uniform Controlled Substances Act or other provisions of state law;

    (18) Individual who is pregnant, who has given birth, or who has a related medical condition
shall mean an individual with a known limitation who, with or without reasonable accommodation,
can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds, desires,
or may be temporarily assigned to. Consideration shall be given to the employer's judgment as to
what functions of a job are essential, and if an employer has prepared a written description before
advertising or interviewing applicants for the job, this description shall be considered evidence of
the essential functions of the job

(19) Race is inclusive of characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, and protective hairstyles;
and

(20) Protective hairstyles includes braids, locks, and twists.

.48-1103. Exceptions to act. The Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act shall not apply to:

    (1) A religious corporation, association, or society with respect to the employment of
individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected with the carrying on by such
corporation, association, or society of its religious activities; or

   (2) The employment of any individual (a) by his or her parent, grandparent, spouse, child, or
grandchild or (b) in the domestic service of any person.

48-1104. Unlawful employment practice for an employer. It shall be an unlawful employment
practice for an employer:

    (1) To fail or refuse to hire, to discharge, or to harass any individual, or otherwise to
discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges
of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or
national origin; or

    (2) To limit, advertise, solicit, segregate, or classify employees in any way which would
deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely
affect such individual's status as an employee, because of such individual's race, color, religion,
sex, disability, marital status, or national origin.

48-1105. Unlawful employment practice for employment agency.

    It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency to fail or refuse to refer
for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of race, color,
religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin, or to classify or refer for employment
any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin.

48-1106. Unlawful employment practice for labor organization.

    It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization:

(1) To exclude or to expel from its membership, or otherwise to discriminate against, any
individual because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin;

    (2) To limit, segregate, or classify its membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to refer for
employment any individual, in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of
employment opportunities, or would limit such employment opportunities or otherwise adversely
affect such individual's status as an employee or as an applicant for employment, because of such
individual's race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin; or

    (3) To cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual in violation
of this section.

48-1107. Unlawful employment practice controlling apprenticeship or training programs.

    It shall be an unlawful employment practice for any employer, labor organization, or joint
labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including
on-the-job training programs to discriminate against any individual because of race, color, religion,
sex, disability, marital status, or national origin in admission to, or employment in, any program
established to provide apprenticeship or other training.

48-1107.01. Unlawful employment practice for covered entity.

   It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a covered entity to:

   (1) Discriminate against a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of
such individual in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of
employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of
employment; or

    (2) Discriminate against an individual who is pregnant, who has given birth, or who has a
related medical condition in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or
discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and
privileges of employment.

48-1107.02. Qualified individual with a disability; individual who is pregnant, who has given
birth, or who has a related medical condition; discrimination, defined.

   (1) When referring to a qualified individual with a disability, discrimination shall include:

    (a) Limiting, segregating, or classifying a job applicant or employee in a way that adversely
affects the opportunities or status of the applicant or employee because of the disability of the
applicant or employee;

   (b) Participating in a contractual or other arrangement or relationship that has the effect of
subjecting a qualified individual with a disability to discrimination in the application or
employment process, including a relationship with an employment agency, a labor union, an
organization providing fringe benefits to an employee of the covered entity, or an organization
providing training and apprenticeship programs;

(c) Utilizing standards, criteria, or methods of administration (i) that have the effect of
discrimination on the basis of disability or (ii) that perpetuate the discrimination against others
who are subject to common administrative control;

    (d) Excluding or otherwise denying equal jobs or benefits to a qualified individual with a
disability because of the known disability of an individual with whom the qualified individual with
a disability is known to have a relationship or association;

    (e) Not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an
otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant or employee unless such
covered entity can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the
operation of the business of the covered entity;

   (f) Denying employment opportunities to a job applicant or employee who is otherwise a
qualified individual with a disability if the denial is based upon the need of such covered entity to
make reasonable accommodation to the physical or mental impairments of the employee or
applicant;

    (g) Using qualification standards, employment tests, or other selection criteria that screen out
or tend to screen out an individual with a disability or a class of individuals with disabilities unless
the standard, test, or other selection criteria, as used by the covered entity, is shown to be job-
related for the position in question and is consistent with business necessity;

    (h) Failing to select and administer tests concerning employment in the most effective manner
to ensure that, when the test is administered to a job applicant or employee who has a disability
that impairs sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the test results accurately reflect the skills,
aptitude, or whatever other factor of the applicant or employee that the test purports to measure
rather than reflecting the impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills of the employee or applicant
except when such skills are the factors that the test purports to measure;

    (i) Conducting a medical examination or making inquiries of a job applicant as to whether the
applicant is an individual with a disability or as to the nature or severity of the disability, except
that:

    (i) A covered entity may make preemployment inquiries into the ability of an applicant to
perform job-related functions;

      (ii) A test to determine the illegal use of drugs shall not be considered a medical examination;
and

   (iii) A covered entity may require a medical examination after an offer of employment has
been made to a job applicant and prior to the commencement of the employment duties of the
applicant and may condition an offer of employment on the results of the examination if:

      (A) All entering employees are subjected to such an examination regardless of disability;

     (B) Information obtained regarding the medical condition or history of the applicant is
collected and maintained on separate forms and in separate medical files and is treated as a
confidential medical record, except that (I) supervisors and managers may be informed regarding
necessary restrictions on the work or duties of the employee and necessary accommodations, (II)
first-aid and safety personnel may be informed, when appropriate, if the disability might require
emergency treatment, (III) government officials investigating compliance with the Nebraska Fair

Employment Practice Act shall be provided relevant information on request, and (IV) information
shall be made available in accordance with the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act; and

    (C) The results of the examination are used only in a manner not inconsistent with the Nebraska
Fair Employment Practice Act; and

     (j) Requiring a medical examination or making inquiries of an employee as to whether the
employee is an individual with a disability or as to the nature or severity of the disability, unless
the examination or inquiry is shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity. A
test to determine the illegal use of drugs shall not be considered a medical examination. A covered
entity may conduct voluntary medical examinations, including voluntary medical histories, which
are part of an employee health program available to employees at the worksite and may make
inquiries into the ability of an employee to perform job-related functions if the information
obtained regarding the medical condition or history of the employee is subject to the requirements
in subdivisions (1)(i)(iii)(B) and (C) of this section.

   (2) When referring to an individual who is pregnant, who has given birth, or who has a related
medical condition, discrimination shall include:

    (a) Limiting, segregating, or classifying a job applicant or employee in a way that adversely
affects the opportunities or status of the applicant or employee because of the pregnancy,
childbirth, or related medical conditions of the applicant or employee;

    (b) Participating in a contractual or other arrangement or relationship that has the effect of
subjecting an individual who is pregnant, who has given birth, or who has a related medical
condition to discrimination in the application or employment process, including a relationship with
an employment agency, a labor union, an organization providing fringe benefits to an employee of
the covered entity, or an organization providing training and apprenticeship programs;

    (c) Utilizing standards, criteria, or methods of administration (i) that have the effect of
discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions or (ii) that
perpetuate the discrimination against others who are subject to common administrative control;

   (d) Not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical limitations of an individual
who is pregnant, who has given birth, or who has a related medical condition and who is an
applicant or employee unless such covered entity can demonstrate that the accommodation would
impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business of the covered entity;

    (e) Denying employment opportunities to a job applicant or employee who is pregnant, who
has given birth, or who has a related medical condition if the denial is based upon the need of such
covered entity to make reasonable accommodation to the physical limitations due to the pregnancy,
childbirth, or related medical conditions of the employee or applicant;

    (f) Using qualification standards, employment tests, or other selection criteria that screen out
or tend to screen out an individual or a class of individuals who are pregnant, who have given birth,
or who have a related medical condition unless the standard, test, or other selection criteria, as
used by the covered entity, is shown to be job-related for the position in question and is consistent
with business necessity;

   (g) Conducting a medical examination or making inquiries of a job applicant as to whether the
applicant is pregnant, has given birth, or has a related medical condition, except that:

(i) A covered entity may make preemployment inquiries into the ability of an applicant to
perform job-related functions;

      (ii) A test to determine the illegal use of drugs shall not be considered a medical examination;
and

   (iii) A covered entity may require a medical examination after an offer of employment has
been made to a job applicant and prior to the commencement of the employment duties of the
applicant and may condition an offer of employment on the results of the examination if:

      (A) All entering employees are subjected to such an examination;

     (B) Information obtained regarding the medical condition or history of the applicant is
collected and maintained on separate forms and in separate medical files and is treated as a
confidential medical record, except that (I) supervisors and managers may be informed regarding
necessary restrictions on the work or duties of the employee and necessary accommodations, (II)
first-aid and safety personnel may be informed, when appropriate, if the pregnancy, childbirth, or
related medical conditions might require emergency treatment, (III) government officials
investigating compliance with the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act shall be provided
relevant information on request, and (IV) information shall be made available in accordance with
the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act; and

    (C) The results of the examination are used only in a manner not inconsistent with the Nebraska
Fair Employment Practice Act;

    (h) Requiring a medical examination or making inquiries of an employee as to whether the
employee is pregnant, has given birth, or has a related medical condition unless the examination
or inquiry is shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity. A test to determine
the illegal use of drugs shall not be considered a medical examination. A covered entity may
conduct voluntary medical examinations, including voluntary medical histories, which are part of
an employee health program available to employees at the worksite and may make inquiries into
the ability of an employee to perform job-related functions if the information obtained regarding
the medical condition or history of the employee is subject to the requirements in subdivisions
(2)(g)(iii)(B) and (C) of this section;

   (i) Requiring an employee to take leave under any leave law or policy of the covered entity if
another reasonable accommodation can be provided to the known limitations related to the
pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions of the employee; and

    (j) Taking adverse action against an employee in the terms, conditions, or privileges of
employment for requesting or using a reasonable accommodation to the known limitations related
to the pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions of the employee.

48-1108. Lawful employment practices.

      Notwithstanding any other provision of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act:

    (1) It shall not be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to hire and employ
employees, for an employment agency to classify or refer for employment any individual, for a
labor organization to classify its membership or to classify or refer for employment any individual,
or for an employer, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee controlling
apprenticeship or other training or retraining programs to admit or employ any individual in any

such program on the basis of religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin in those
certain instances when religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin is a bona fide
occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business
or enterprise; and

     (2) It shall not be an unlawful employment practice for a school, college, university, or other
educational institution or institution of learning to hire and employ employees of a particular
religion if such school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning
is, in whole or in substantial part, owned, supported, controlled, or managed by a particular religion
or by a particular religious corporation, association, or society or if the curriculum of such school,
college, university, or other educational institution of learning is directed toward the propagation
of a particular religion.

   (3) It shall not be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to enact any bona fide
health and safety standard that regulates characteristics associated with race if the employer
demonstrates that:

    (a) Without the implementation of such standard, it is reasonably certain that the health and
safety of the applicant, employee, or other materially connected person will be impaired;

    (b) The standard is adopted for nondiscriminatory reasons;

    (c) The standard is applied equally; and

    (d) The employer has engaged in good faith efforts to reasonably accommodate the applicant
or employee; and

    (4) It shall not be an unlawful employment practice for the Nebraska State Patrol, a county
sheriff, a city or village police department, or any other law enforcement agency in this state or
the Nebraska National Guard to impose its own dress and grooming standards.

48-1108.01. Lawful employment practices for covered entity.

    It shall not be an unlawful employment practice for a covered entity to:

    (1) Prohibit the illegal use of drugs and the use of alcohol at the workplace by all employees;

    (2) Require that employees not be under the influence of alcohol or be engaging in the illegal
use of drugs at the workplace;

    (3) Require employees to comply with any federal regulations concerning the use of alcohol
or the illegal use of drugs which are applicable to the position of the employee or to the industry
involved; or

    (4) Hold an employee who engages in the illegal use of drugs or who is an alcoholic to the
same qualification standards for employment or job performance and behavior that such entity
holds other employees even if any unsatisfactory performance or behavior is related to the drug
use or alcoholism of such employee.

48-1109. Repealed.

48-1110. National security employment; exception.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, it shall
not be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail or refuse to hire and employ any
individual for any position, for an employer to discharge any individual from any position, for an
employment agency to fail or refuse to refer any individual for employment in any position, or for
a labor organization to fail or refuse to refer any individual for employment in any position, if:

    (1) The occupancy of such position, or access to the premises in or upon which any part of the
duties of such position is performed or is to be performed, is subject to any requirement imposed
in the interest of the national security of the United States under any security program in effect
pursuant to or administered under any statute of the United States or any Executive Order of the
President; and

   (2) Such individual has not fulfilled or has ceased to fulfill that requirement.

48-1111. Different standards of compensation, conditions, or privileges of employment;
lawful employment practices; effect of pregnancy and related medical conditions.

    (1) Except as otherwise provided in the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, it shall not
be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to apply different standards of compensation,
or different terms, conditions, or privileges of employment pursuant to a bona fide seniority or
merit system or a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production or to
employees who work in different locations, if such differences are not the result of an intention to
discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin, nor
shall it be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to give and to act upon the results of
any professionally developed ability test if such test, its administration, or action upon the results
is not designed, intended, or used to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex, disability,
marital status, or national origin.

    It shall not be an unlawful employment practice for a covered entity to deny privileges of
employment to an individual with a disability when the qualification standards, tests, or selection
criteria that screen out or tend to screen out or otherwise deny a job or benefit to an individual with
a disability:

    (a) Have been shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity and such
performance cannot be accomplished by reasonable accommodation, as required by the Nebraska
Fair Employment Practice Act and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; or

    (b) Include a requirement that an individual shall not pose a direct threat, involving a significant
risk to the health or safety of other individuals in the workplace, that cannot be eliminated by
reasonable accommodation.

   It shall not be an unlawful employment practice to refuse employment based on a policy of not
employing both husband and wife if such policy is equally applied to both sexes.

    (2) Except as otherwise provided in the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, women
affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all
employment-related purposes, including receipt of employee benefits, as other persons not so
affected but similar in their ability or inability to work, and nothing in this section shall be
interpreted to provide otherwise.

This section shall not require an employer to provide employee benefits for abortion except
when medical complications have arisen from an abortion.

   Nothing in this section shall preclude an employer from providing employee benefits for
abortion under fringe benefit programs or otherwise affect bargaining agreements in regard to
abortion.

48-1112. Indians; preferential treatment.

    Nothing in the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act shall apply to any business or
enterprise on or near an Indian reservation with respect to any publicly announced employment
practice of such business or enterprise under which a preferential treatment is given to any
individual because he or she is an Indian living on or near a reservation.

48-1113. Preferential treatment; when not required.

    Nothing in the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act shall be interpreted to require any
employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee subject
to the act to grant preferential treatment to any individual or to any group because of the race,
color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin of such individual or group on
account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the total number or percentage of persons
of any race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin employed by any
employer, referred or classified for employment by any employment agency or labor organization,
admitted to membership or classified by any labor organization, or admitted to, or employed in,
any apprenticeship or other training program, in comparison with the total number or percentage
of persons of such race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin in any
community, section, or other area, or in the available work force in any community, section, or
other area.

48-1114. Opposition to unlawful practice; participation in investigation; discrimination
prohibited.

    (1) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of
his or her employees or applicants for employment, for an employment agency to discriminate
against any individual, or for a labor organization to discriminate against any member thereof or
applicant for membership, because he or she (a) has opposed any practice made an unlawful
employment practice by the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, (b) has made a charge,
testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under
the act, or (c) has opposed any practice or refused to carry out any action unlawful under federal
law or the laws of this state, or (d) has inquired about, discussed, or disclosed information
regarding employee wages, benefits, or other compensation. This subdivision (d) shall not apply
to instances in which an employee who has authorized access to the information regarding wages,
benefits, or other compensation of other employees as part of such employee’s job functions
discloses such information to a person who does not otherwise have authorized access to such
information, unless such disclosure is in response to a charge or complaint or in furtherance of an
investigation, proceeding, hearing, or other action, including an investigation conducted by the
employer.

    (2) Nothing in this subsection or subdivision (1)(d) of this section shall be contrary to
applicable state or federal law or: (a) Create an obligation for any employer or employee to
disclose information regarding employee wages, benefits, or other compensation; (b) Permit an
employee, without the written consent of the employer, to disclose proprietary information, trade

secret information, or information that is otherwise subject to a legal privilege or protected by law.
For purposes of this subdivision, proprietary information does not include information regarding
employee wages, benefits, or other compensation; (c) Permit an employee to disclose information
regarding wages, benefits or other compensation of other employees to a competitor of the
employer; (d) Apply to employers which are exempt from the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice
Act under section 48-1102; (e) Permit an employee to discuss information regarding employee
wages, benefits, or other compensation during work hours, as defined in existing workplace
policies, or in violation of specific contractual obligations; or (f) Permit an employee to
disseminate information regarding employee wages, benefits, or other compensation to the general
public. For purposes of this subdivision, general public does not include public officials, judicial
officers, legislators, trade associations, or other reasonable third parties for the employee’s mutual
aid or protection.

   (3) The changes made to this section by Laws 2019, LB217, shall not be construed so as to
impair or affect the obligation of any lawful contract in existence prior to September 1, 2019.

48-1115. Notice of employment; preference or discrimination; race, color, religion, sex,
disability, marital status, national origin; unlawful; exception.

    It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer, labor organization, or
employment agency to print or publish or cause to be printed or published any notice or
advertisement relating to employment by such an employer or membership in or any classification
or referral for employment by such a labor organization, or relating to any classification or referral
for employment by such an employment agency, indicating any preference, limitation,
specification, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, marital status, or
national origin, except that such a notice or advertisement may indicate a preference, limitation,
specification or discrimination based on religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin
when religion, sex, disability, marital status, or national origin is a bona fide occupational
qualification for employment.

48-1116. Equal Opportunity Commission; members; appointment; term; quorum;
compensation; executive director; representation.

    There is hereby established an Equal Opportunity Commission to consist of seven members to
be appointed by the Governor. Terms of members shall be three years. As the terms of the members
expire, the Governor shall appoint or reappoint the members of the commission for terms of three
years to succeed the members whose terms expire. The commission shall elect one member to
serve as chairperson of the commission.

   Four members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting the
business thereof. Any action of the commission shall require at least four votes. A vacancy in the
commission shall not impair the right of the remaining members to exercise all the powers of the
commission.

    Members of the commission shall receive fifty dollars per day for their services and shall be
reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as provided in sections 81-
1174 to 81-1177. Reimbursement shall be for not more than two regular meetings per month and
not more than three training sessions for any one fiscal year. Any member of the commission may
be removed by the Governor for inefficiency, neglect of duty, misconduct, or malfeasance in office
after being given a written statement of the charges and an opportunity to be heard thereon.

The commission shall establish and maintain its principal office in the city of Lincoln and such
other offices within the state as it may deem necessary. The commission may meet and function
at any place within the state. The commission shall appoint an executive director who shall be
directly responsible to the commission. The executive director may appoint such assistants, clerks,
agents, and other employees as such executive director may deem necessary, fix their
compensation within the limitations provided by law, and prescribe duties of such employees. The
executive director may appoint additional staff as the commission deems necessary.

    The Attorney General shall represent and appear for the commission in all actions and
proceedings involving any question under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, the
Nebraska Fair Housing Act, or section 20-123, 20-124, or 20-132 and shall aid in any investigation
or hearing had under either act or any of such sections. The commission shall have an official seal
which shall be judicially noticed.

48-1117. Commission; powers; duties; enumerated.

   The commission shall have the following powers and duties:

    (1) To receive, investigate, and pass upon charges of unlawful employment practices anywhere
in the state;

    (2) To hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, administer oaths, and take
the testimony of any person under oath and, in connection therewith, to require the production for
examination of any books and papers relevant to any allegation of unlawful employment practice
pending before the commission. The commission may make rules as to the issuance of subpoenas,
subject to the approval by a constitutional majority of the elected members of the Legislature;

    (3) To cooperate with the federal government and with local agencies to effectuate the purposes
of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act, including the sharing of information possessed by
the commission on a case that has also been filed with the federal government or local agencies if
both the employer and complainant have been notified of the filing;

   (4) To attempt to eliminate unfair employment practices by means of conference, mediation,
conciliation, arbitration, and persuasion;

    (5) To require that every employer, employment agency, and labor organization subject to the
act shall (a) make and keep such records relevant to the determinations of whether unlawful
employment practices have been or are being committed, (b) preserve such records for such
periods, and (c) make such reports therefrom, as the commission shall prescribe by regulation or
order, after public hearing, as reasonable, necessary, or appropriate for the enforcement of the act
or the regulations or orders thereunder. The commission shall, by regulation, require each
employer, labor organization, and joint labor-management committee subject to the act which
controls an apprenticeship or other training program to maintain such records as are reasonably
necessary to carry out the purposes of the act, including, but not limited to, a list of applicants who
wish to participate in such program, including the chronological order in which such applications
were received, and to furnish to the commission, upon request, a detailed description of the manner
in which persons are selected to participate in the apprenticeship or other training program. Any
employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee which
believes that the application to it of any regulation or order issued under this section would result
in undue hardship may either apply to the commission for an exemption from the application of
such regulation or order or bring a civil action in the district court for the district where such
records are kept. If the commission or the court, as the case may be, finds that the application of

the regulation or order to the employer, employment agency, or labor organization in question
would impose an undue hardship, the commission or the court, as the case may be, may grant
appropriate relief;

    (6) To report, not less than once every two years, to the Clerk of the Legislature and the
Governor, on the hearings it has conducted and the decisions it has rendered, the other work
performed by it to carry out the purposes of the act, and to make recommendations for such further
legislation concerning abuses and discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, disability,
marital status, or national origin, as may be desirable. The report shall also include the number of
complaints filed under the act alleging a violation of subdivision (2) of section 48-1107.01 and the
resolution of such complaints. The report submitted to the Clerk of the Legislature shall be
submitted electronically. Each member of the Legislature shall receive an electronic copy of the
report required by this subdivision by making a request for it to the chairperson of the commission;
and

    (7) To adopt and promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out the duties prescribed
in the act.

48-1118. Unlawful practice; charge; time for filing; prescreening procedure and
determination; investigation; confidential informal actions; procedure; violation; penalty;
interrogatories.

    (1) Whenever it is charged in writing under oath or affirmation by or on behalf of a person or
persons claiming to be aggrieved and such charge sets forth the facts upon which it is based that
an employer, employment agency, or labor organization has engaged in an unlawful employment
practice, the commission staff shall furnish such employer, employment agency, or labor
organization with a copy of such charge within ten days, including a statement of the date, place,
and circumstances of the alleged unlawful employment practice. Prior to initiating any
investigation, the commission staff shall screen a charge pursuant to an established, clearly defined
prescreening procedure to determine subject matter jurisdiction to handle such charge. Any charge
without sufficient subject matter jurisdiction shall not be investigated and notice of such
prescreening determination shall be promptly conveyed by the executive director to the person
claiming to be aggrieved. When a charge is determined to be within the subject matter jurisdiction
of the commission, the commission staff shall make an investigation of such charge, but such
charge shall not be made public by the commission. If the executive director determines after such
investigation that there is not reasonable cause to believe that the charge is true, the executive
director shall dismiss the charge and promptly notify the person claiming to be aggrieved and the
respondent of his or her action. If the executive director determines after such investigation that
there is reasonable cause to believe that the charge is true, the commission shall endeavor to
eliminate any such alleged unlawful employment practice and settle any claim by informal
methods of conference, conciliation, persuasion, mediation, or arbitration. The settlement efforts
shall be scheduled and completed within thirty days of the probable cause finding. Nothing said
or done during and as a part of such endeavors may be made public by the commission without
the written consent of the parties or used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding. Any officer or
employee of the commission who makes public in any manner whatever any information in
violation of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor except as provided in
subdivision (3) of section 48-1117.

    (2) A written charge of violation of the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act shall be filed
within three hundred days after the occurrence of the alleged unlawful employment practice and
notice of the charge, including a statement of the date, place, and circumstances of the alleged

unlawful employment practice, shall be served upon the person against whom such charge is made
within ten days thereafter.

    (3) A respondent shall be required to file with the commission a written response to the written
charge of violation within thirty days after service upon the respondent. Failure to file a written
response within thirty days, except for good cause shown, shall result in a mandatory reasonable
cause finding against the respondent by the executive director. Failure by any complainant to
cooperate with the commission, its investigators, or staff, except for good cause shown, shall result
in dismissal of the complaint by the executive director.

    (4) In connection with any investigation of a charge filed under this section, the commission
or its authorized agents may, at any time after a charge is filed, issue or cause to be served
interrogatories and shall have at all reasonable times access to, for the purposes of examination,
and the right to copy any evidence or records of any person being investigated or proceeded against
that relate to unlawful employment practices covered by the act and are relevant to the charge
under investigation. The commission may seek preparation of and judicial enforcement of any
legal process or interrogatories through the office of the Attorney General.

48-1119. Unlawful practice; complaint; notice; hearing; witnesses; evidence; findings; civil
action authorized; order.

    (1) In case of failure to eliminate any unlawful employment practice by informal methods of
conference, conciliation, persuasion, mediation, or arbitration, the commission may order a public
hearing. If such hearing is ordered, the commission shall cause to be issued and served a written
notice, together with a copy of the complaint, requiring the person, employer, labor organization,
or employment agency named in the complaint, hereinafter referred to as respondent, to answer
such charges at a hearing before the commission at a time and place which shall be specified in
such notice. Such hearing shall be within the county where the alleged unlawful employment
practice occurred. The complainant shall be a party to the proceeding, and in the discretion of the
commission any other person whose testimony has a bearing on the matter may be allowed to
intervene therein. Both the complainant and the respondent, in addition to the commission, may
introduce witnesses at the hearing. The respondent may file a verified answer to the allegations of
the complaint and may appear at such hearing in person and with or without counsel. Testimony
or other evidence may be introduced by either party. All evidence shall be under oath and a record
thereof shall be made and preserved. Such proceedings shall, so far as practicable, be conducted
in accordance with the rules of evidence applicable in the district courts of the State of Nebraska,
and shall be of public record.

    (2) No person shall be excused from testifying or from producing any book, document, paper,
or account in any investigation, or inquiry by, or hearing before the commission when ordered to
do so, upon the ground that the testimony or evidence, book, document, paper, or account required
of such person may tend to incriminate such person in or subject such person to penalty or
forfeiture; but no person shall be prosecuted, punished, or subjected to any forfeiture or penalty
for or on account of any act, transaction, matter, or thing concerning which such person shall have
been compelled under oath to testify or produce documentary evidence, except that no person so
testifying shall be exempt from prosecution or punishment for any perjury committed by such
person in his or her testimony. Such immunity shall extend only to a natural person who, in
obedience to a subpoena, gives testimony under oath or produces evidence, documentary or
otherwise, under oath. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as precluding any person from
claiming any right or privilege available to such person under the fifth amendment to the
Constitution of the United States.

(3) After the conclusion of the hearing, the commission shall, within ten days of the receipt of
the transcript or the receipt of the recommendations from the hearing officer, make and file its
findings of fact and conclusions of law and make and enter an appropriate order. The hearing
officer need not refer to the page and line numbers of the transcript when making his or her
recommendation to the commission. Such findings of fact and conclusions of law shall be in
sufficient detail to enable a court on appeal to determine the controverted questions presented by
the proceedings and whether proper weight was given to the evidence. If the commission
determines that the respondent has intentionally engaged in or is intentionally engaging in any
unlawful employment practice, it shall issue and cause to be served on such respondent an order
requiring such respondent to cease and desist from such unlawful employment practice and order
such other affirmative action as may be appropriate which may include, but shall not be limited to,
reinstatement or hiring of employees, with or without backpay. Backpay liability shall not accrue
from a date more than two years prior to the filing of the charge with the commission. Interim
earnings or amounts earnable with reasonable diligence by the person or persons discriminated
against shall operate to reduce the backpay otherwise allowable.

     (4) A complainant who has suffered physical, emotional, or financial harm as a result of a
violation of section 48-1104 or 48-1114 may, at any stage of the proceedings prior to dismissal,
file an action directly in the district court of the county where such alleged violation occurred. If
the complainant files a district court action on the charge, the complainant shall provide written
notice of such filing to the commission, and such notification shall immediately terminate all
proceedings before the commission. The district court shall docket and try such case as any other
civil action, and any successful complainant shall be entitled to appropriate relief, including
temporary or permanent injunctive relief, general and special damages, reasonable attorney's fees,
and costs.

    (5) No order of the commission shall require the admission or reinstatement of an individual
as a member of a labor organization or the hiring, reinstatement, or promotion of an individual as
an employee, or the payment to him or her of any backpay, if such individual was refused
admission, suspended, or expelled, or was refused employment or advancement or was suspended
or discharged for any reason other than discrimination on account of race, color, religion, sex,
disability, marital status, or national origin or in violation of section 48-1114. If the commission
finds that a respondent has not engaged in any unfair employment practice, it shall within thirty
days state its findings of fact and conclusions of law. A copy of any order shall be served upon the
person against whom it runs or his or her attorney and notice thereof shall be given to the other
parties to the proceedings or their attorneys. Such order shall take effect twenty days after service
thereof unless otherwise provided and shall continue in force either for a period which may be
designated therein or until changed or revoked by the commission.

   (6) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, until a transcript of the record of the
proceedings is filed in the district court as provided in section 48-1120, the commission may, at
any time upon reasonable notice and in such a manner it shall deem proper, modify or set aside, in
whole or in part, any finding or order made by it.

48-1120. Appeal; procedure; attorney's fees; failure to appeal; effect.

    (1) Any party to a proceeding before the commission aggrieved by such decision and order and
directly affected thereby may appeal the decision and order, and the appeal shall be in accordance
with the Administrative Procedure Act (84-917).

(2) In any action or proceeding under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act wherein an
appeal is lodged in the district court, the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party
reasonable attorney's fees as part of the costs.

    (3) If a respondent does not appeal an order, the commission may obtain a decree of the court
for the enforcement of such order upon showing that respondent is subject to the commission's
jurisdiction and resides or transacts business within the county in which the petition for
enforcement is brought.

48-1120.01. Action in district court; deadline; notice by commission.

    The deadline for filing an action directly in the district court is ninety days after the
complainant receives notice of the last action the commission will take on the complaint or charge.
When entering the last action on the complaint or charge, the commission shall issue written notice
of such ninety-day deadline to the complainant by certified mail, return receipt requested. The last
action on the complaint or charge includes the issuance of the final order after hearing, the
determination of reasonable cause or no reasonable cause, and any other administrative action
which ends the commission's involvement with the complaint or charge.

48-1121. Posting excerpts of law.

    Every employer, employment agency, and labor organization subject to the Nebraska Fair
Employment Practice Act shall post in a conspicuous place or places on his, her, or its premises a
notice to be prepared or approved by the commission which shall set forth excerpts of the act and
such other relevant information which the commission deems necessary to explain the act.

48-1122. Contracts with state and political subdivisions; requirements.

    Every contract to which the state or any of its political subdivisions is a party shall contain a
provision requiring the contractor and his subcontractors not to discriminate against any employee
or applicant for employment, to be employed in the performance of such contract, with respect to
his hire, tenure, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of his race, color, religion,
sex, disability, or national origin.

48-1123. Violations; penalty.

    Any person, employer, labor organization, or employment agency who or which willfully
resists, prevents, impedes, or interferes with the commission or any of its members or
representatives in the performance of duty under the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act or
willfully violates an order of the commission shall be guilty of a Class III misdemeanor. Procedure
for the review of the order shall not be deemed to be such willful conduct.

48-1124. Construction of act.

    Nothing contained in the Nebraska Fair Employment Practice Act shall be deemed to repeal
any of the provisions of the civil rights law, any other law of this state, or any municipal ordinance
relating to discrimination because of race, creed, color, religion, sex, disability, or national origin.